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lapetrov
Reviews
La lengua de las mariposas (1999)
Innocence lost to knowledge, freedom destroyed by tradition
I've been watching a lot of films in Spanish lately, trying to prepare for a course I will be teaching on Love in Hispanic Cinema. I'm searching for the film I can show that will exemplify love of country... and while I don't think this is the one I'm looking for, it may work insofar as the "love of Spain" expressed resonates with the same propagandistic tones similar expressions of "patriotism" so often do.
I won't bore you with the basics of plot nor repeat what everyone else has already said as you can read the intro and a hand-full of other posts and know enough. I will tell you that this is a subtle film. We in the US are so used to being hit over the head by our movies that watching this film is like feeling a soft breeze. It's oh so quietly disquieting.
I have found interesting the posts reviewing this film that criticize the "meanderings" of the plot --how far the dispersed elements take us away from the core message. But I ask, what is not childhood but a collection of fascinating and disconnected pieces of a puzzle that we can't put together quite yet. Music, love, family, sex, food, school, friends, women and girls, books, nature, teachers and grown men -all equally interesting and engaging to a young boy. But when he's all of maybe seven, what does he know about how they all relate to each other? What do any of us really know about how all the pieces of our lives fit together, or what they mean?
I especially enjoyed the sad quality of all the varied losses interwoven in the greater story; they tempered the otherwise hopeful mood of the film. The overall effect on me was that I understood that loss is comprised not only of one deep cut but of a thousand little ones too. It wasn't only the dream of a Republican and free Spain that was lost; it was much more that was lost as well.
The film-making here is exquisite too, like a butterfly, so beautiful visually; "La lengua de las mariposas" is so well executed that it truly feels real. There were no moments when I said to myself "oh, come on," as I do when I feel I've been taken for too stupid to figure things out for myself, when everything has been made too obvious, predigested for me by the movie makers.
Amazingly the child actor is believable at all times -never too precocious, never too coy. An excellent performance from a child actor is always a delight. See the Argentine film "Valentin" (2002) for another.
Others write that the ending is shocking, too abrupt and that the audience is neither prepared for it nor guided towards it. For me that is the perfect ending because it replicates the shock of the civil war to the Spaniards, and the shock adult violence inflicts upon childhood. For me, the abrupt ending was the radical interruption traditional Spain forced upon everyone's future. Never mind, as one post suggested that in Republican Spain the communists had taken over and democracy was no longer in effect. Democracy here is the exotic Chinese beauty Andrés falls in love with, a fantasy out of reach, silenced and taken hostage by a brute.
See this film and decide for yourself.
La ciudad y los perros (1985)
A Brilliant Study in Peruvian (& World) Masculinity
While I agree with many of the comments already made in terms of the low-to-medium quality of this film's production, its incredible story more than makes up for it.
I used this film in a course I taught twice on Masculinity in Latin American Literature -instead of reading the novel the movie adapts, because it allowed me to include more texts in less time. If you can, read the book, but beware: Vargas Llosa's are usually 500+ page novels.
The story ends up being a virtual textbook on male homosocial structures and systems. It spoke loud and clear to all my students on the key issues at play in relationships of power amongst males. All the guys could relate to the pressures of conformity the movie represents. But male and female alike saw the dichotomies and subtleties present in the strange ways in which young men socialize and force each other to fit into orthodox male culture, or else. Though the context is a bit extreme, a military academy is certainly a more restricted and anxiety-producing environment than the average school, it outlines all the roles and behaviors imposed upon young men by the culture at large -a male-oriented and dominated society.
Despite its limitations as a film, the story stands strong and true. Unfortunately, it remains contemporary in many ways. Not one student felt it was irrelevant; instead they found interesting the metaphoric use of "dog" to signify the barbaric qualities of the military/male systems represented. "Dog" is a cultural signifier they hear in popular US music a-plenty and its use in the film added a new dimension to their understanding of its meaning.
Vargas Llosa's semi-autobiographical tale of male isolation and survival is poignant and deep. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in themes related to the life of boys.
El hijo de la novia (2001)
Cinema as ritual of hope
This is a lovely film that can't but leave you feeling good. It deals with serious issues -midlife crisis, Alzeimers disease, the true meaning of love, but it does so in a way that doesn't beat you over the head with what to think or feel. You can react to it in your own way, on your own terms.
For me, I really loved the metaphoric quality of the ending scenes. What is life but a stage, indeed.
This movie is for anyone who enjoys the texture of multi-generational movies (ie. not everyone important is the same age). And certainly its for anyone who likes a good movie about family -it's joys and heartbreaks. Family is the struggle sometimes too.
And you have to just love Argentina and the Argentines --good movie makers from way back that continue to deliver quality goods despite the obstacles to the contrary. Personally, I would have liked more social commentary. It's there, just not openly stated. Hmmmm. ¿Por qué sería?
Amores perros (2000)
¡Viva México!
******************** Fabulous ******************* More fabulous than most films lately. "Crash" tried to imitate it but, despite having won an Oscar, "Crash" fell flat intellectually. Something "Amores Perros" doesn't do. This is not only visually engaging it's mentally stimulating. So if you like movies like "Crash," that are told in a multi-layered format, that engage social and personal questions, then you will like "Amores Perros" even if you generally don't like foreign films, or have little experience with Mexican cinema.
As for dogs, animals are always more than what they seem to be, especially in films from Spain and Mexico. And I reply to a recent post when I say that Cofi is no mere Rottweiler; he's an embodiment, a living metaphor. So yes, he can beat a top-of-the-line fighting pit bull. Like in many other "underdog" stories, the winner isn't always the sure-thing.
I find it interesting that some people who've posted here don't like the middle story. Why does Valeria and Daniel not speak to them? I found their story to be the most damning of "love."
And that's what this movie is, a conceptual story that presents us with fragments of the whole, variations of love and love themes to illuminate and make us think. Let's face it, intellect is a weak point in many movies -but not this one. See for yourself. And then let me know what you think this movie says about love, how and why it's a such a damn "bitch" sometimes.
Valentín (2002)
Bitter sweet tale of childhood
If you ever watched "The Wonder Years" and enjoyed the combination of youth and wisdom you will enjoy this movie, set in 1969. The child actor is fabulous and endears himself and his character immediately. Combining child p.o.v. with the hind-sight of adult understanding and narration (in a child's voice) the film achieves great realness. Based on the real-life story of the director/writer, it's wonderfully nostalgic and yet powerfully cathartic. If you never cry or laugh during this film, please see a doctor as your heart may be already stopped. But it isn't over-sentimentalized or trivialized at all. Quite the opposite, it's the story of agonizing loss borne with true emotional strength. Filmed in Argentina, it takes you on a trip to another time and place all the while telling the timeless tale of a child's unending capacity to love. Moving, important and true. Highly recommended.